ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers Meeting
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, participated in the G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers’ virtual Meeting on 10th April 2020. The meeting was called by Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the G20 Presidency, and chaired by Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz. The meeting was attended by Energy Ministers of G20 countries, guest countries and heads of international organizations including OPEC, IEA and IEF.
The G20 Energy Ministers’ focused on ways and means to ensure stable energy markets, which are affected due to demand reduction as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing surplus production -related matters.
During the meeting, Shri Pradhan reiterated Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call for G20 taking a human-centric approach for overcoming challenging hardships, especially for the vulnerable.
In this context, the Minister highlighted the decision of Hon’ble Prime Minister, under the aegis of the Ujjwala scheme, to provide 80.3 million poor families free LPG cylinders, as part of a 23 billion dollars relief package. He emphasized that India was, and will continue to be, the global energy demand centre. He also highlighted Government of India’s efforts to fill in our Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
In terms of the ongoing energy market fluctuations, the Minister stated that India has always advocated for a stable oil market, which is reasonable for producers and affordable for consumers. He appreciated the collective efforts of OPEC and OPEC-plus countries to balance the supply-side factors which is imperative for long-term sustainability. He has, however, urged that oil prices should be targeted to affordable levels to allow for a consumption-led demand recovery.
The G20 Energy Ministers’ meeting will be adopting a Joint Statement, which inter alia, proposes to establish a Task Force to advise the G20 Energy Ministers on the next steps, and agreed to remain engaged in the coming days.
NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog to Open Applications for Atal New India Challenge
Grants of upto Rs One Crore, mentorship to be given to the winning ideas
The Atal Innovation Mission  under the NITI Aayog shall be launching the Atal New India Challenge on Thursday, 26th April 2018. The event will see presence of Shri Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State , Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri SS Ahluwalia, Minister of State, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog and Shri Ramanathan Ramanan, Mission Director, AIM.
Under the Atal New India Challenge, which shall be run in collaboration with five ministries, AIM will invite prospective innovators/MSMEs/start-ups to design market-ready products, using cutting edge technologies or prototypes across 17 identified focus areas such as Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Mobility, Predictive Maintenance of Rolling Stock, Waste Management etc.
Applicants showing capability, intent and potential to productize technologies will be awarded grants up to Rs. One crore. This grant will be further supplemented by mentoring, handholding, incubating and other support as needed at various stages of commercialisation, while generating wider deployment for the product.
Ministry of Finance
Finance Secretary Dr T.V. Somanathan releases guidelines for reforms in Public Procurement and Project Management
Guidelines attempt to incorporate into the realm of Public Procurement, innovative rules for faster, efficient and transparent execution of projects
Finance Secretary & Secretary Expenditure, Dr T.V. Somanathan released guidelines to usher in reforms in Public Procurement and Project Management here today. The formulation and release of these guidelines is a part of continuous process of review of existing rules and procedures as emphasised by the Hon’ble Prime Minister during his Independence Day address this year. This is being monitored by Cabinet Secretary as a special campaign during 2nd October, 2021 to 31st October, 2021.
The draft of the guidelines was prepared under the aegis of the Central Vigilance Commission  after a detailed consultative process involving experts from various fields of public procurement and project management. The Department of Expenditure , Ministry of Finance, was nominated to issue the guidelines after soliciting and detailed consideration of the comments of Ministries/ Departments.
These guidelines attempt to incorporate into the realm of Public Procurement in India, innovative rules for faster, efficient and transparent execution of projects and to empower executing agencies to take quicker and more efficient decision in public interest. Some of the improvements include prescribing strict timelines for payments when due. Timely release of ad hoc payments  is expected to improve liquidity with the contractors especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises .
As part of Government’s Digital thrust, Electronic Measurement Books have been prescribed as a means of recording progress of works. This system, along with other IT based solutions, proposed in the guidelines, will help in realising the dream of efficient Digital India, facilitate faster payments to contractors and reduce disputes.
Alternative methods for selection of contractors have been permitted, which can improve speed and efficiency in execution of projects. In appropriate cases, quality parameters can be given weightage during evaluation of the proposal in a transparent and fair manner, through a Quality cum Cost Based Selection , as an alternative to traditional L1 system.
Executing public projects on time, within the approved cost and with good quality has always been a challenge. As the pace of economic development steps up careful examination of procedures and rules is essential to ensure unwarranted roadblocks are removed and new innovations utilized for increasing value for money of the taxpayer.
The Central Vigilance Commission , the Comptroller & Auditor General  and the National Institution for Transforming India  Aayog had carried out detailed analysis of the procedures and rules for public procurement and project management and had suggested changes in strategies to meet challenges of present and future public procurement.
Order Link:
https://doe.gov.in/sites/default/files/General%20Instructions%20on%20Procurement%20and%20Project%20Management.pdf
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Safety of EV Charging Stations
Like any other technological application, Electric Vehicle charging stations are also susceptible to cyber-attacks and cyber security incidents. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team , which is mandated to track and monitor cyber security incidents in India, received reports of vulnerabilities in products and applications related to Electric Vehicle Charging stations and issued alerts and vulnerability notes suggesting remedial measures. CERT-In issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect computers and networks on an ongoing basis.
Government is fully cognizant and aware of various cyber security threats and is actively taking steps to combat the issue of hacking. In the recently notified cyber security direction, CERT-In has now made it mandatory for all incidents to be mandatorily reported to CERT-In. CERT-In has formulated a Cyber Crisis Management Plan for countering cyber-attacks and cyber terrorism for implementation by all Ministries and Departments of the Central Government, State Governments and their organisations and critical sectors. CERT-In has empanelled 150 security auditing organisations to support and audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices.
As per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, the number of cyber security incidents during the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 are 2,08,456, 3,94,499, 11,58,208, 14,02,809 and 13,91,457 respectively.
This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
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Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
PROPOSAL FOR PROVISION OF SIX AIRBAGS IN CARS
This Ministry, vide GSR 1483 dated 7th December, 2017, mandated the requirement of airbag for the driver, as per Automotive Industry Standard 145. The Ministry has notified GSR 148 dated 2nd March, 2021 regarding mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver, as per AIS 145, as amended from time to time for the vehicles manufactured on and after the 1st Day of April, 2021, in the case of new models, and 31st day of August, 2021, in the case of existing models. However, due to COVID 19 pandemic, this Ministry vide GSR 595 dated 26th August 2021 has extended the timeline in respect of date of implementation of fitment of air bags on existing models upto 31st December 2021.
The Ministry of Road and Transport and Highways, vide GSR 16 dated 14th January, 2022, has notified that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after 01st October 2022, shall be fitted with two side/side torso air bags, one each for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions and two side curtain/tube air bags, one each for the persons occupying outboard seating positions. This has been notified to enhance safety for the vehicle occupants. Comments and objections have been solicited from all stakeholders within a period of thirty days.
This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister's Office
PM to address Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will address the Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts tomorrow. This event is being organized by NITI Aayog at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The Prime Minister will interact with officials in-charge of transformation of over 100 districts.
This event is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a New India by 2022. The Union Government has embarked upon a major policy initiative for the rapid transformation of districts that are lagging on specific development parameters. Senior Government officials in the rank of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary have been designated as officers in-charge, to coordinate the efforts of the Centre and the States in addressing the specific developmental needs of these districts.
Ministry of Finance
171 operating Central Public Sector Enterprises made net profit in FY 2019-20
As per latest available information on the number of profit-making Central Public Sector Enterprises , 171 operating CPSEs including Maharatna, Navratna and Miniratna CPSEs have made net profit in the Financial Year 2019-20. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Giving more details, the Minister stated that at present there are 10 Maharatna, 14 Navratna and 73 Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprises.
The Minister further stated that the Budget 2021-22, inter alia, envisaged for completion of strategic disinvestment of one Maharatna CPSE, namely, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, two Navratna CPSEs, namely Shipping Corporation of India Limited and Container Corporation of India Limited and two Miniratna CPSEs, namely, BEML Limited and Pawan Hans Limited.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilisers reviews the availability of drugs for covid treatment and other essential drugs
Increased capacity of Remedesvir will augment the domestic availability of injection - Shri Sadananda Gowda
16.5 lakh vials of Remdesivir allocated between May 3 and May 9
Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilisers Shri D.V Sadananda Gowda chaired a meeting to review availability of drugs for covid treatment and other essential drugs. The Meeting was attended by Ms. S. Aparna, Secretary , Dr. V. G. Somani, DCGI, Smt. Shubhra Singh, Chairperson, NPPA, Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Joint Secretary , Shri Navdeep Rinwa, Joint Secretary , Smt. Vinod Kotwal, Member Secretary, NPPA and other senior officers.
Shri Gowda during the meeting appreciated the efforts of all seven manufacturers of Remdesivir for increasing the production capacity to 1.03 crore vials per month, up from 38 lakh vials per month a month ago. This increased capacity will augment domestic availability of the injection. He added that allocation of 16.5 lakh vials of Remdesivir has been made to all States for period between May 3 and May 9. Since April 21, a total allocation of 34.5 lakh vials has been made so far. Allocation to States is a dynamic process and efforts will be made to further enhance supply in the coming weeks.
During the meeting availability of other essentials drugs was also discussed. Shri Gowda stressed the need to continuously monitor availability of other essential medicines and to check instances of black marketing and hoarding. Dr. Somani, DCGI informed that already a survey is being undertaken to ascertain availability of various medicines in the market. Preliminary findings suggest that at present, there is adequate availability of medicines in the market and Department of Pharma, NPPA and CDSCO will continue to closely monitor their availability. Regarding black marketing and hoarding, he conveyed that State Drug Controllers have been instructed to make teams at State level for field inspections. Strict Action is being taken against hoarding and black-marketing of drugs. A number of preventive and enforcement actions have been taken by DCGI/SDCs to stop hoarding/ black marketing/ overcharging of Covid management drugs like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Favipiravir, etc. By 1.5.2021, as many as 78 actions have been taken all over India, in coordination with SDCs, local police, FDA etc. for hoarding, overcharging, black marketing, and arrests were made/ cases were registered. Seizures of drugs, vehicles, empty vials  and cash were made. In one case in Chandigarh, Remdesivir vials to the tune of 3000 units were recovered.
Shri Gowda lauded pharma companies and officers of Department of Pharma, NPPA, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and CDSCO for their coordinated efforts and close cooperation in ramping up availability of drugs for covid treatment and other essential drugs within shortest possible time. Such close collaboration between Government and private sector is need of the hour.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Lower rate of EPF subscription 10% with EPFO notified placing higher liquidity in the hands of employees and employers during COVID -19 pandemic
Government Sector, their PSEs and establishment whose subscription is being borne by Union Government under PMGKY continue to have subscription at old rates of 12%
Lower rates to be applicable for salary months of May, June and July 2020
Various measures have been announced from time to time to provide relief to the employers and employees of the establishments covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952 distressed by Lockdown to prevent spread of COVID-19 and other disruptions due to Pandemic.
The reduction in statutory rate of contributions from 12% to 10% for wage months May, 2020, June, 2020 and July, 2020 for all class of establishments covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952 announced on 13.05.2020 by the Central Govt. as part of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat package has been notified vide SO 1513  dated 18.05.2020 published in the Gazette of India. The notification is available under the TAB- COVID-19 on the home page of EPFO website
The above reduction of rate of contribution is not applicable to establishments like Central and State Public Sector enterprises or any other establishment owned or controlled by or under control of the Central Govt. or State Govt. These establishments shall continue to contribute 12% of basic wages and dearness allowances.
The reduced rate is also not applicable for PMGKY beneficiaries, since the entire employees EPF contributions  and employers’ EPF & EPS contribution , totaling 24% of the monthly wages is being contributed by the Central Govt.
Reduction in rate of EPF contributions from 12% to 10% of basic wages and Dearness allowances is intended to benefit both 4.3 Crore employees/members and employers of 6.5 lakhs establishments to tide over the immediate liquidity crisis to some extent.
As a result of reduction in statutory rate of contributions from 12% to 10%, the employee shall have a higher take home pay due to reduction in deduction from his pay on account of EPF contributions and employer shall also have his liability reduced by 2% of wages of his employees. If Rs.10000/- is monthly EPF wages, only Rs.1000/- instead of Rs.1200/- is deducted from employee’s wages and employer pays Rs.1000/- instead of Rs.1200/- towards EPF contributions.
In Cost to Company  model, if Rs.10000/- is monthly EPF wages, in CTC Model the employee gets Rs.200/- more directly from employer as employer’s EPF/EPS contribution is reduced and Rs.200/- less is deducted from his/her wages.
Under the EPF Scheme, 1952 any member has the option to contribute at a rate higher than statutory rate  and employer can restrict his contributions 10%  in respect of such employee.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 124.10 Cr
More than 80.98 Lakh doses administered in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently at 98.36%
8,954 New Cases reported in the last 24 hours
India's Active Case load stands at 99,023; less than a lakh after 547 days
Weekly Positivity Rate  less than 1% for last 17 days
With the administration of 80,98,716vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 124.10 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 1,28,94,826sessions.
The break-up of the cumulative figureas per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,03,83,861
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
94,97,716
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,83,79,105
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,65,00,848
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
45,94,92,943
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
22,56,54,139
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
18,49,49,869
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
12,10,09,097
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
11,58,23,193
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
7,93,96,079
|
|
Total
|
|
1,24,10,86,850
The recovery of10,207patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally of recovered patients  to 3,40,28,506.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.36%.
Sustained and collaborative efforts by the Centre and the States/UTs continue the trend of less than 50,000 Daily New Cases that is being reported for 157 consecutive days now.
8,954 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
India’s Active Caseloadis less than a lakh after 547 days; presentlystands at99,023.Active cases constitute 0.29% of the country's total Positive Cases, which is lowest since March 2020.
The testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded. The last 24 hours saw a total of
11,08,467tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over64.24 Cr  cumulative tests.
While testing capacity has been enhanced across the country, Weekly Positivity Rate at 0.84% remains less than 1% for the last 17 days now. The Daily Positivity rate reported to be0.81%. The daily Positivity rate has remained below2% for last 58 days and below 3% for 93 consecutive days now.
Ministry of Defence
Army Hospital  creates history by conducting 50 bilateral simultaneous cochlear implants in 18 months
The Department of Ear, Nose & Throat  at Army Hospital  in Delhi Cantt. has conducted 50 bilateral simultaneous cochlear implants in the last 18 months, becoming the only government hospital across the country to accomplish these many successful implants.
Cochlear implant is a sophisticated medical device which enables hearing-disabled patients to come into the mainstream by making them hear through it. The cost of the equipment has always been a concern, making its outreach limited). Children get only one cochlear implant in most of the government-funded programme. The benefit of hearing in both ears far outweighs the cost involved, and the Armed Forces Medical Services were quick to realise this.
In March 2022, the policy for cochlear implant for hearing-impaired patients in the Armed Forces was revised and simultaneous bilateral  implants were included. This was the first policy in the country bringing medical standards at par with developed countries.
DG Armed Forces Medical Services Lt Gen Daljit Singh and DGMS  Lt Gen Arindam Chatterjee have congratulated the Army Hospital  and wished many more laurels to the institute.
The Army Hospital  is the apex hospital of the Armed Forces and is presently being commanded by Lt Gen Ajith Nilakantan who specialises in ENT and Head and Neck Oncosurgery.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju addresses International Volunteer Day event
Shri Kiren Rijiju also announces the names of the V-Awardees 2020
Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju virtually addressed International Volunteer Day today. UN Volunteers India along with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, UNDP and other partner UN Agencies, celebrated International Volunteer Day 2020 . Secretary , Smt. Usha Sharma and Joint Secretary  , Shri Asit Singh also attended the event virtually. The IVD 2020 ceremony promoted volunteerism and recognized volunteer contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals .
During his address Shri Kiren Rijiju said, “When all else stood still in the world, the youth, the young men and women of India carried their people to safety, security and most importantly, to progress and hope, against all odds. Over a million volunteers in India have taken action to combat the threat posed directly by COVID-19, and also thereafter, helping to tackle the aftereffects from the pandemic” he said. He ended by thanking the UN, NYKS, NSS and community volunteers for their extraordinary efforts “I wish all a very happy International Volunteer Day! I am committed to working with all young people out there to fight.”
Shri Kiren Rijiju also announced the names of the V-Awardees 2020 and congratulated them for their community outreach efforts. The V-Awardees 2020- Chetan Pardeshi; VijayambigaiThulashidos; Nupur Agarwal; Rohan Modi; Yashoda Pandey; Harshit Gupta; Chaitanya Prabhu; Pradeep Sharma; AkritiGupta; Poorvaprabha Patil- thanked the jury and talked about the motivation behind their projects.
In her address, Secretary , Smt. Usha Sharma focused on volunteerism being the corner stone for the long-term vision of India realizing its full potential. Joint Secretary , Shri Asit Singh emphasized on the role of volunteers in drafting the youth policy and policy for volunteerism.
The theme for this year’ IVD is “Together We Can Through Volunteering” which aims to thank volunteers and celebrate their efforts during adversities and beyond. UNV India coordinated a nationwide campaign building on the impact that volunteers have in communities, nationally and globally, for peace and development.
The IVD 2020 ceremony started with the launch of the IVD anthem jointly produced by UNV India and UNHCR followed by an address by Shalina Miah  who thanked the volunteers for their undying spirit of altruism.
Shoko Noda addressed the audience and reiterated UNDP’s commitment to work with millions of talented and compassionate volunteers to find new ways of interpreting the fast-changing realities.